SCDJJ Juvenile Detention Complex Inmate Bail & Bonds

For most charges, a county magistrate does. Magistrates here set bail, hold preliminary hearings and sign warrants, and one stays on call after the offices close.

State law sets a one-day clock: the bond hearing must come within 24 hours (S.C. Code 22-5-510). After the money or paperwork is in, staff get at most four hours to walk the person out. A town judge can set bond on a town charge too (S.C. Code 14-25-115).

• Darlington Magistrate Office: 115 Camp Road, Darlington, SC 29532, 854-267-7670.
• Hartsville Magistrate Office: 404 South 4th Street, Hartsville, SC 29550, 854-267-7543.

Both keep weekday hours, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Murder, or any count that could end in execution or lifelong prison, needs a circuit judge for bond. For the hearing time, ring the jail office at 843-398-4220.

Outside capital cases, the law tilts toward letting the person go on their own signature. The judge moves away from it only for a real risk of running or of harm (S.C. Code 17-15-10). The usual choices:

• Personal recognizance, or PR. No cash changes hands. A signature is the whole deal.
• Cash. The whole bond is paid up front. A magistrate or town judge may accept cash in place of a signed pledge (S.C. Code 22-5-530).
• Surety. A licensed bondsman guarantees the whole sum to the court, and the family pays that bondsman a fee.
• Ten percent deposit. With the judge's OK, the family pays the clerk of court a cash slice of the bond, capped at 10%. It isn't available on violent charges, or on a gun felony that came while another bond was active (S.C. Code 17-15-15).
• GPS monitoring. A judge can order an ankle tracker as a swap for money bail, or on top of it (S.C. Code 17-15-35).

Whatever the type, the person agrees to attend court, not leave the state and obey the law (S.C. Code 17-15-20). Hoping to put up land or a house? Ask the magistrate's office which papers it wants before you go.

No price list sets bond here. The judge chooses a figure at the hearing. State law hands the judge a checklist: the offense, family ties, a job, finances, character, time spent living locally, criminal history and any past no-shows. Pending cases and an existing bond on another charge go on that checklist too (S.C. Code 17-15-30).

A charge's top penalty hints at how steep bond might run:

• Third-degree assault and battery: the most is $500 and 30 days (S.C. Code 16-3-600(E)(2)).
• Shoplifting worth $2,000 or less: up to $1,000 and 30 days. Above $2,000, it becomes a felony that can bring five years (S.C. Code 16-13-110(B)).
• Felony classes climb from F, five years at most, up to A, 30 years at most (S.C. Code 16-1-20).
• Murder's punishment is death, or between 30 years and life (S.C. Code 16-3-20(A)). Only a circuit judge handles its bond.

The real number shows on the jail lookup once the hearing ends. The jail office can read it to you at 843-398-4220.

The bond is paid to whichever court set it. That court then sends the release paper to the jail. Follow this order:

1. Search the inmate lookup for the person's name. Jot down the bond and the arrest number.
2. Phone the Detention Center office at 843-398-4220 on weekdays, or 843-398-4920 after hours. Ask where this bond gets paid: at the jail, at a magistrate office, or at the Clerk of Court.
3. Ask that office what money it takes and how a cashier's check should be made out.
4. Bring photo ID, exact payment and the person's full legal name and birthday.
5. Hold on to each receipt and release form.

Release should come no later than four hours after the bond is in (S.C. Code 22-5-510(B)). While on the phone, ask how to reach the building.

Yes. Each office below handles bond for its own cases, so phone first to be sure yours is there.

• Darlington Magistrate Office, 115 Camp Road, Darlington, SC 29532, 854-267-7670. Open weekdays 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. A magistrate may take cash instead of a signed pledge.
• Hartsville Magistrate Office, 404 South 4th Street, Hartsville, SC 29550, 854-267-7543. Same weekday hours.
• Clerk of Court, 110 N. Main Street, Darlington, SC 29532, 843-398-4330. Its General Sessions staff handle bond paperwork on those cases and take 10% deposits that a judge approves.
• Town courts collect bond on charges they set. Darlington Municipal Court sits in City Hall, 400 Pearl Street, Darlington, SC 29532, 843-398-4004. Hartsville Municipal Court uses PO Drawer 2497, Hartsville, SC 29551, 843-383-3008. Lamar Municipal Court uses PO Box 267, Lamar, SC 29069, 843-326-7264. Society Hill Municipal Court uses PO Box 29, Society Hill, SC 29593, 843-378-4681.

Every office makes its own call on cash, cashier's checks and money orders. Phone the one holding the bond before you drive over. The Clerk of Court answers at 843-398-4330. Mailing cash is a bad idea.

The Clerk of Court's site links a General Sessions fines and fees payment page that takes cards. Use it for fines and court costs on a case. It won't post bond for anyone in jail.

Whatever a bondsman charges is paid straight to the bondsman, never to the court. Get a signed receipt for each payment.

A bondsman, or surety, vouches to the court for the entire bond. That promise costs the family a fee known as the premium. State law (Title 38, Chapter 53) sets these limits:

• Bondsmen and their runners need a state license, issued by the SC Department of Insurance. Check one on the national license lookup that the Department links.
• The fee tops out at 15% of the bond. The floor is $100 or 10%, whichever is larger (S.C. Code 38-53-170(e)).
• On a payment plan, at least $100 is due at signing, and the balance can't stretch past 18 months.
• Dropped charges don't bring the premium back.
• Bondsmen can't hunt for clients inside the jail, a courtroom or a magistrate office, and can't steer you to a particular attorney.

Complaints go to the SC Department of Insurance, 1201 Main Street, Suite 1000, Columbia, SC 29201, 803-737-6160.

Each bond frees the person from one case only. Before paying, ask the jail office at 843-398-4220 to list each hold first. The usual ones:

• Another county's or state's warrant. Officers there may come to collect the person.
• Two separate cases. A ticket from town police and a charge from deputies each carry their own bond.
• Probation or parole. An agent can ask the jail to keep them. The state probation office is at 302 Russell Street, Darlington, SC 29532, 843-393-4741.
• New violent or gun felony charge during a bond. That ends the earlier bond with no hearing needed. A circuit judge must take it up inside 30 days (S.C. Code 17-15-55(C)).
• A federal or ICE hold. This jail also houses U.S. Marshals prisoners. Immigration detainers get their own answer on this page.
• An ankle monitor order. The tracker may have to be strapped on first.

South Carolina's constitution lets most people out on bail and forbids bail set too high (S.C. Const. art. I, § 15). Even so, bond can be refused in three situations:

• The charge is capital, meaning death is a possible sentence.
• The charge carries a possible life sentence.
• The charge is on the state's violent crime list, such as kidnapping, armed robbery or first-degree burglary (S.C. Code 16-1-60).

Before refusing, the judge must weigh how strong the proof is and what happened. Capital and life cases go to a circuit judge for bond. For the listed violent offenses, a magistrate keeps the choice to grant bond or withhold it.

The prosecutor who may push for a big bond, or none, is the Fourth Circuit Solicitor's Office, 1 Public Square, Room 410, Darlington, SC 29532, 843-398-4300. Victims must hear about the hearing ahead of time and may speak there (S.C. Code 16-3-1525).

Yes, by asking a higher judge. A circuit judge has power to revisit a bond first set in summary court when the charge belongs to General Sessions (S.C. Code 17-15-55). Release terms can also be changed after notice and a hearing (S.C. Code 17-15-50).

1. Have the defense lawyer file a bond motion with the Clerk of Court, 110 N. Main Street, Darlington, SC 29532, 843-398-4330.
2. Bring proof the person has roots here: pay stubs, a rental agreement, support letters, plus a realistic figure you can afford.
3. Propose conditions that calm the court's concerns, for example an ankle monitor or a no-contact order.
4. Show up for the hearing. The Solicitor's Office and any victim may also speak.

A defendant too poor to hire counsel is entitled to an appointed one (S.C. Code 17-3-10). They fill out a sworn money statement. The application costs $40, an amount the clerk may reduce or waive (S.C. Code 17-3-30). For a minor, the parent signs and is billed the fee (S.C. Code 17-3-45).

• Local public defender office: 300 Russell Street, Suite 113, Darlington, SC 29532, 843-398-4069. It belongs to the Fourth Circuit's defender system, shared with Chesterfield, Dillon and Marlboro counties.
• Statewide agency: SC Commission on Indigent Defense, 1330 Lady Street, Suite 401, Columbia, SC 29201, 803-734-1343. It keeps a page for this county's defenders.

The best moment to request counsel is the bond hearing itself, so a defender can argue for a lower amount early.

The county belongs to the Fourth Judicial Circuit. Criminal matters land in these courts:

• Court of General Sessions and Family Court, through the Clerk of Court, 110 N. Main Street, Darlington, SC 29532, 843-398-4330. Felonies and the more serious misdemeanors.
• Darlington Magistrate Office, 115 Camp Road, Darlington, SC 29532, 854-267-7670. Bond, preliminary hearings and small charges.
• Hartsville Magistrate Office, 404 South 4th Street, Hartsville, SC 29550, 854-267-7543.
• Darlington Municipal Court, City Hall, 400 Pearl Street, Darlington, SC 29532, 843-398-4004.
• Hartsville Municipal Court, PO Drawer 2497, Hartsville, SC 29551, 843-383-3008.
• Lamar Municipal Court, PO Box 267, Lamar, SC 29069, 843-326-7264. Court meets at Town Hall on the third Monday each month.
• Society Hill Municipal Court, PO Box 29, Society Hill, SC 29593, 843-378-4681.
• Federal court, McMillan Federal Building, 401 West Evans Street, Florence, SC 29501, 843-676-3820.

Usually, if every rule was kept. A court returns deposited cash on request after it has done its job, which means the case has closed with no missed dates (S.C. Code 17-15-220). A 10% deposit returns once the conditions are met, after any victim repayment is subtracted (S.C. Code 17-15-15). The Clerk of Court explains how to ask at 843-398-4330.

Missing a date sets off a chain:

• A bench warrant goes out. That is a judge's written command to bring the person in.
• If a bondsman hasn't surrendered the person 90 days after that warrant, the surety bond is forfeited (S.C. Code 38-53-70).
• Willfully missing court on a felony is its own crime, punishable by as much as five years plus a $5,000 fine (S.C. Code 17-15-90).
• A bondsman has ten days to hand back collateral, such as a truck title, after the bond is finished, as long as no bench warrant is pending.

Try to sort this out before the release date. On a weekday, phone the Detention Center office at 843-398-4220. Ask how the leftover account balance is refunded, and what time property may be collected.

Carry a photo ID. Picking up for the person? Ask whether a note signed by the person is required. For deposit and refund basics, open our jail account page.

The Florence Division of the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina takes federal cases from eight counties, this one included. It meets at the McMillan Federal Building, 401 West Evans Street, Florence, SC 29501, 843-676-3820. Business hours there are 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday to Friday.

• At the opening appearance, the judge sets release terms or orders the person held (18 U.S.C. 3142). Delays are short: up to five days when the defense asks, three when prosecutors do.
• The U.S. Marshals Service has custody in the meantime. Its Florence office is upstairs in that building, 401 West Evans Street, Suite 341, Florence, SC 29501, 843-662-0750.
• The Darlington jail holds Marshals prisoners under contract, so a federal defendant may stay right here.
• Once a federal prison term is handed down, use the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator.

Yes. Paying state bond leaves a federal immigration hold in place. What usually follows:

1. On Form I-247A, the immigration agency (ICE) lodges its hold at the Campbell center.
2. That lets the jail keep the person up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released (8 CFR 287.7(d)).
3. ICE officers arrive and take custody.
4. Type the A-number into the ICE Online Detainee Locator. Without it, enter the person's name and birth country.
5. The nearest ICE field office sits at 3950 Faber Place Drive, North Charleston, SC 29405, 843-746-9800.

Under state law, jail staff have 72 hours to check if anyone booked on a crime is unlawfully present. When that proves true, they notify the Department of Homeland Security (S.C. Code 23-3-1100). At the bond hearing, the judge must factor in unlawful presence and whether the person might flee (S.C. Code 22-5-510(D)(4)).

A sentence of three months or under generally stays local (S.C. Code 24-3-30). The county reports that nearly everyone in its jail is awaiting court, while the rest serve 90 days or less or wait for a transfer. Longer terms go to the South Carolina Department of Corrections (SCDC), which decides where (S.C. Code 24-3-20).

• Fresh SCDC inmates start with reception and evaluation, a sorting stage, before moving to a prison. Face-to-face visits wait until that stage ends, unless it drags past 30 days.
• Some men with state sentences do their time at the county's Prison Camp, 200 Camp Road, Darlington, SC 29532, 843-398-4210. It has 51 minimum-security beds under a contract with SCDC.
• Search the SCDC inmate lookup by name, or call SCDC at 4444 Broad River Road, Columbia, SC 29210, 803-896-8500.
• Each state prison has an entry in our South Carolina state prisons guide.

In this state, a person under 18 is legally a child, and Family Court hears the case (S.C. Code 63-19-20(1)). A 17-year-old facing a felony ranked Class A through D, or one carrying a 15-year maximum or longer, is tried as an adult instead.

• Six hours is the legal limit on keeping a child in an adult lockup. Kids aged ten or younger can't be locked up at all (S.C. Code 63-19-820).
• Within 48 hours, weekends and holidays not included, a judge decides whether detention continues (S.C. Code 63-19-830).
• Across most of the state, youth held before a hearing go to the Juvenile Detention Complex, 1725 Shivers Road, Columbia, SC 29210, 803-896-9440, run by the South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice.
• The county's Juvenile Justice office is at 302 Russell St., Room 15, Darlington, SC 29532, 843-393-5641. Call it to learn where your child was taken.

The Clerk of Court keeps Family Court files. Its family court line is 843-398-4333.